The Bluetooth 5 specification, published today by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, paves the way toward new and exciting destinations on the information superhighway. In particular, the spec targets the Internet of Things with improvements to range, speed, security, and capacity.

Google has a new method for shrinking down the size of app updates in the Google Play Store. The fresh technique, called file-to-file patching, is more efficient than the previous algorithm. It can help crunch apps, making them easier to download over wireless networks. There's only one drawback.

Google announced the Firebase App Indexing API. The API allows users to search for content within the Google app and find personal or public content across apps installed on a particular device. Because the content is stored on the device, the API is functional whether a user is online or not.

Google made a second preview of Android 7.1 available to mobile app developers ahead of the platform's release. Along with the new build, Google made some minor adjustments to the Android SDK and Android Studio. Developers should put the new tools to use in finalizing their apps for Android 7.1.

Mertech has announced its latest SaaSification tool: THRIFTLY.IO. THRIFTLY allows developers to maintain the functionality of legacy Windows apps, but provide API access to such apps for easier consumption in mobile and cloud-based formats. No additional coding for API setup is needed with THRIFTLY.

Google has added yet more tools to the Play Developer Console, including a new voidedPurchases API for managing Play Store refunds. The new feature set mainly targets subscriptions, betas, independent titles, and virtual reality content ahead of Google's launch of the Daydream platform.

Google is pushing a significant update to its Firebase platform in order to make the backend-as-a-service even more useful for developers. The refreshed platform targets game developers and tosses in new crash reporting and analytics enhancements for good measure. Here's what you need to know.

Earlier this year, Google requested map data from the Korean government. In response, Korean tech companies Naver and Kakao have increased free limits to their respective maps APIs beyond what Google offers. The government is expected to respond next month but the competition has already started.

Google has introduced a Web Share API developers can use to enable sharing capabilities on sites. The API allows users to control how and where data is shared by enabling websites to call on the host platform’s native sharing capabilities. The API can only be used on websites with a secure origin.

Google has announced that they will shutting down panoramic photo sharing site Panoramio, along with its API on November 4th. Originally the company had announced plans for the shut down back in 2014 but due to strong community feedback they postponed those plans until users had viable options.

Verifone, a payments and commerce solutions provider, has announced that the company is leading an effort to define and implement the Conexxus Mobile Standard, a new Mobile API standard that aims to coordinate interactions between mobile payment and loyalty program applications.

Google recently announced that it will soon release a developer preview of Android 7.1 Nougat. The refreshed platform from Google carries over some of the fancy features from the recently-announced Pixel phones to Nexus handsets and other devices. As always, new APIs abound and require app updates.

App review fraud is a serious issue for both developers and app stores, but Bogdan Popsecu, the developer behind the popular Dash tool, says Apple went too far in closing his account and banning him. This is a mess.

Crashlytics has improved its Beta by Crashlytics developer tool with a new way to distribute beta app builds. Fastlane automates portions of beta deployment for iOS apps with a process so simple practically anyone can set it up. The goal is to help developers speed up beta testing.

Facebook launched v2.8 of its Graph API. Highlights include Custom Open Graph and the Marketing API updates. Facebook will deliver more Common Open Graph action types to relieve developers from having to create custom graph actions and objects. Marketing API updates give advertisers more control.

Google today released a new developer preview of Android Wear 2.0. This latest build is the third from Google and brings the smartwatch platform one step closer to its general release. Google added some killer new features to the operating system, but not all the news is good.

Android Studio 2.2 has been available in preview form since May, but this week Google made the final version available to all developers. Android Studio is the integrated development environment that Android app writers use to work their magic in creating smartphone and tablet applications.

Yelp continued its barrage of developer news today. The company's latest announcements include a completely redone developer program and the Yelp Fusion API that will replace Yelp's existing API over time. New API features include more pictures, content caching, autocomplete and more.

Developers worried about surpassing mobile app size limits can find salvation in the new modular SDK from MoPub. It allows developer to customize the SDK for only the ad formats they want or need to use. This means developers have more control over their app's size and can improve performance.

Twenty Two APIs have been added to the ProgrammableWeb directory in categories such as Photos, Payments, Home Automation, and Contacts. Highlighted today are several APIs from Cloud Elements plus an API for Pexels free stock photo service. Here's a rundown of the latest additions.